I see the kid’s face light up, and Reid does too. “Sounds good, Sawyer. Let’s go Coop,”
It takes no time at all to clean the kid’s hand and get him bandaged up, with a sticker of course. When it’s all done I bend down in front of him. “Y’know, Coop, you were probably the bravest kid I’ve ever taken care of. It’s totally okay to cry, heck I cry when I get hurt. But you handled everything really well. In fact, you were so brave, I feel like you’re ready to join the super secret brave club.”
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Reid quirking a brow at me, but making shit up to make people smile is kinda my specialty.
“What’s that?” Cooper asks quietly.
“It’s a super secret group of people who are really really brave. We’ve got a special handshake that we do when we see each other.”
His eyes widen. “Can I learn it?”
I let my face go serious. “You think you can handle the responsibility of a secret handshake?”
The kid nods eagerly. “Yup I sure can.”
On the fly I come up with a combination of movements, not too crazy but complicated enough that Cooper asks me to go through it a few times until he’s got it down. We’re just at the end of our latest round when a voice I never expected to hear again comes from across the parking lot.
“Cooper I’m here, I’m so sorry I’m late buddy!”
My head whips around faster than a cartoon road runner, and there she is. Hurrying towards us, in a t-shirt with a bunch of old ladies on it, her hair in a sloppy bun with loose strands flying around her, and a look of stress marring her perfect face.
I watch in disbelief as Tori, the angel of my fantasies, swoops Cooper up in a hug ignoring his protests.
“I was in a meeting with Carol and I lost track of time then I got turned around and I’m so sorry, Coop. So so sorry.” Her eyes look up to Reid, and I shamelessly take advantage of the attention not being on me for once to just take her in.
She’s not all dolled up like she was the night of the gala, but she’s just as beautiful. Maybe even more so now that I see her in daylight, where I can make out the smattering of freckles across her nose and the natural flush on her cheeks.
“Sorry Mr. Corser, I swear I’m not usually late for pickup. I don’t think I’ve ever been late in fact, always on time if not early. It won’t happen again, I’m still figuring my way around town and - ”
“Tori it’s absolutely fine. It happens to everyone, and Coop here was getting some special attention from our local fire department after taking a tumble on the playground.”
Finally her gaze flips over to me, those gorgeous eyes that are seared into my memory growing impossibly wider. I see recognition and shock written all over her face and feel my own features smoothing into a smile. But any ideas that might have been forming my head about a round two with Tori get tossed aside when she stands up and sticks her hand out.
“Tori Charles. Thanks for looking after my son, sorry if it kept you from anything important.”
Not gonna lie, it stings a bit her pretending not to know who I am. After all, I’m nothing if not memorable. But my manners force me to play along.
“Not a problem, Tori. Name’s Sawyer Donnelly, and there was nothing more important than getting to see how brave Coop was.” I flash her a smile before turning back to Cooper. “See you around, little dude.” Placing my hand out palm up, I wait a second before he gives me a grin and we go through our handshake again.
Then, with nothing more than a nod of my head to Reid and Tori, I turn to the rig and my partner. “Let’s go, Sloan.”
As we make our way through town back to the station, I try to wrap my head around what just happened. And the reality that my one-night stand now lives in my small town. I’ve never had a woman I hooked up with, well, hookmeso thoroughly. But there’s no avoiding the fact that I keep thinking about Tori, of our night together.
Maybe it’s because she ducked out when I was asleep, which has honestly never happened before. Granted, I’ve only fallen asleep after fucking once or twice, but both times my partner was still there in the morning for some epic morning sex. But Tori ghosted me.Ghosted me!
I could chalk it up to that, to being miffed that she disappeared, but that would imply I wanted something more. And I never want something more.
So why the fucking hell can I not stop thinking about wantingmoreTori?
And more importantly, what am I gonna do about it now that she’s here?
Chapter seven
Tori
There are moments when having a kid is a major inconvenience. And no, I’m not being the world’s worst mom when I say that.
How would you feel after running into the star of your hottest fantasies, the man you walked out on after a night of the best sex of your life, because you got a call from the mom hosting your kid for a sleepover, saying he woke up with a stomachache? Oh, and let’s not forget that you run into said hunky hottie hero while wearing your grubbiest Golden Girls T-shirt, the comfort shirt you wear when it’s laundry day, along with a ratty sports bra. Also, your hair’s a mess and you’re running late to pick up your kid because of a meeting with your editor where, yet again, you had to explain why you wouldn’t be meeting your deadline.
